Pages

Recent Posts

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Obama Forfeits Trust by not Enforcing Obamacare

It's quite obvious that the United States of America has a Chief Executive that does not believe he is required to uphold and follow the laws of the land. Unfortunately, it's also quite obvious that the Republican party leadership is timid when it comes to holding our President accountable for his lawlessness. When will a true American leader emerge? Time is running out. - Reggie

Michael Barone

On Obamacare, as on immigration enforcement and welfare requirements, Barack Obama is following the course that cost King James II his throne. He is dispensing with the law.James II was ousted in the Glorious Revolution of 1688-89, in large part for claiming that he could in particular cases dispense with — that is, ignore — an act of Parliament. (Shameless plug: Readers who want more information on this can consult my 2007 book, “Our First Revolution: The Remarkable British Upheaval that Inspired America’s
Founding Fathers.”)The law in question was the Test Act of 1673, which required that all government officials and military officers be members of the Church of England.It is not a law admired by Americans today or, for that matter, by our Founding Fathers. Article VI of the Constitution provides that “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”But the Founders did follow the English Bill of Rights of 1689, which stated “that the pretended power of dispensing with the laws, or the execution of the law by regal authority, as it hath been assumed and exercised of late, is illegal.”That seems to be the clear purport of Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution, which requires that the president “shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.”But the former constitutional law teacher now in the White House seems to be ignoring that duty.Last week, a blog post by the assistant secretary of the treasury for tax policy announced that the government would not enforce Obamacare’s employer mandate, the penalty for not offering health insurance to
full-time employees.That announcement appeared the day before the Fourth of July. On July 5, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a 606-page regulation announcing that state health exchanges would not verify the
eligibility of those applying for Obamacare health insurance subsidies.Both decisions go against the letter of the law — in this case, a law that the president and his critics consider the chief domestic accomplishment of his administration.Read the full article